Joke on the Water

Life couldn't get any better. Myself and three other members of the Jokers Hockey Club (The World's greatest hockey team) purchased a stunning 1972 34 ft. Chris Craft Aqua Home. The boat, docked in beautiful Outer Harbour Marina just 6 minutes from my house, is like a floating cottage offering all the relaxation of the Muskokas without the 3 hour drive. So far there have been two trips into Toronto harbour, one was without incident the other saw Adrian and his cell phone going over-board with Pete at the helm and Steve yelling instructions. Thank God I was working in PEI that week and missed it all. If you see us on the water steer clear!

Standup 101

Kevin Frank the Artistic Director of The Second City Training Centre approached me about teaching standup comedy as part of their winter curriculum. "No" was my first response but a persistent Mr. Frank convinced me to share my "gift" or whatever it is I supposedly have with the world.
So having just finished the 8 weeks I can say that is was an amazing experience. I had 2 outstanding classes who were all excellent at our graduation show. Wow I was proud of them!
In the picture here are some of my Monday class. Good luck to all of you in the funny business and remember me on your way to the top. Special thanks to Absolute Comedy for letting us do our big show there.
If you are interested I am teaching another term so you can get details by going to The Second City web site.

Go Cardinals!

Glendale AZ:
After watching the Arizona Cardinals beat the Seattle Seahawks in the final game of the regular season I am now officially a fan. In fact I will support them in the Superbowl and until the Bills and Lions get their acts together I will stick with them.
Thanks to my buddy Foster for the tickets. In the photo I'm with a fan who made his own bird suit.

Beauty and the Bisaillion

Halifax - Nov/08.
Oh my! I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Lorie Raciot, also known as Miss Canada. The event was the Heart & Stroke Foundation's Heart Truth to raise awareness of heart disease and stroke among women.
Having dated a real life official beauty queen back in the day, I swore to avoid any person who's name began with Miss followed by a geographical location or name of a power tool. Having said that, Lorie is without a doubt one of the most incredible people I have ever met. In addition to the whole Miss Canada thing Lorie has dedicated her life and career to research in the battle against heart disease. Yep she's a beauty queen and a scientist.

Absolute Ottawa

Ottawa: Aug. 19 - 24 was a fun week in the Nation's Capital. 9 crazy shows in 6 nights. 6 sell-outs and others were close to capacity. Lots of people to thank: I'll start with all of you who paid to sit in the seats and generated the incredible noise and energy for me to feed off. Also thanks to BOB FM for having me on the Friday drive home show. Jeff Schouela, my opening act from Montreal who rocked the room every night. Last but not least Jason and all the staff at Absolute Comedy for treating me like one of the family. The staff are the nicest and funniest group I have ever met.

End of an Era

Saturday June 28 marked the final night for comedy at Toronto's legendary Laugh Resort comedy club. For the past 18 years the club has been keeping Torontonians and tourists in stitches night after night. Their location in the Holiday Inn of King has been purchased by Hyatt who have determined that comedy does not fit their corporate image and will turn the club into a high-end breakfast room. The Hyatt seem to know a few things about business so who can argue, but come on! There is nothing funny about eggs, regardless of how you prepare them.

For me and my fellow comedians it was always a treat to perform there. The owner Ellen Wagner and GM Jim VanderBerg are two of the class acts in the business. That's me and Jim V in the photo after the final show in which I had the honour of emceeing, which meant I was last off the stage. Thanks for the memories Laugh Resort.

Montreal + Hockey = Fun

What a weekend! One of my oldest friends Bruce Crowder invited me to play on his Boston team in a weekend tourney. Bruce and I grew up in Essex, Ontario and at age 16 he left to pursue a hockey career that saw him play in the NHL for both the Bruins and Penguins. What a thrill to play with my buddy and hero Bruce. It was weird for me to wear the Stars and Stripes instead of the red Maple Leaf but we won the tournament so USA USA!
On the Thursday I arrived in Montreal before my Boston teammates and attended game 5 of the Canadiens/Bruins playoff series. What a thrill. I felt a huge connection to my late father who was from Montreal and was a huge Canadiens fan. The atmosphere in the Bell Centre was amazing and I have never been so emotional singing our national anthem as I was on that night.
Thanks to Cush and Tommy for making me feel so welcome on their team.

Viva Las Vegas

Staples Business Depot were gracious enough to have their VP of Fun, me, join them for their Vegas conference. Mandalay Bay was my home for this one and in addition to doing my usual on stage stuff the highlight had to be going to a rifle range with trusted video-dude Adam Revesz. It was there that I shot a machine gun for the first time. I wasn't allowed to take it home so hecklers will still only have to deal with sharp wit.

Puerto Rico Paradise

How nice it was to get warm in San Juan hosting the Shoppers Associates conference again in February. The photos include a view from my room at Hilton Caribe and other one is me looking like a geek being escorted on stage by a couple local talented dancers. In a civilized world these two ladies would escort me everywhere.
Hey, I guy can dream.

Laughing at Colon Cancer

North York: 900 people packed the beautiful George Weston Recital Hall on Saturday night for the 3rd annual Crack-A-Smile Comedy night with proceeds going to the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada. I had the pleasure of being asked to perform again and "Wow" did I have a great time with that audience.
In the photo that's me (duh) and the host of the evening, the hilarious Patrick McKenna.
Thanks to all the volunteers and on behalf of all the performers thanks for treating us so well, (2 gift baskets!)

JOKERS WIN EXCLAIM CUP!

Toronto: They did it again. For the second straight year the The Jokers Hockey Club captured the Frank Fredericks trophy at the Exclaim Cup.
Wearing their gold jerseys instead of the red and playing their 5th game in 3 days they beat a strong Peterborough team 4-3 in the Sunday final. It was a thrilling game with Peterborough holding the lead 3 times before the Jokers tied it on a goal by Sean Cullen mid way through the 3rd period then won it on Mike Tackacs goal late in the game.
In the photos Joker Captain Ted Bisaillion holds the cup, then in championship dressing room Ted posses with line mates Steve Levine and Sean Cullen. In the other shot Ted pours the beer in to the cup for all to share.
For more info on the Jokers and to meet the players go to their My Space link on the Tigerman website.